Curated OER
"Mambo" from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
Students encounter and study "Mambo" from "West Side Story," by Leonard Bernstein. They practice utilizing musical elements (instrumentation, tempo, and dynamics) to create a certain mood for a scene with music. Each student interprets...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Machines
What do science and dance have in common? Simple machines, work, and force! First, children discuss machines, wheels, inclined planes, and wedges. They create inclined planes with their bodies and make up dances about wheels and wedges....
Curated OER
Getting to Know Me: Adventures in Self-Expression
Invite students to understand themselves and share their discoveries with autobiographical art activities.
Curated OER
Water
Third graders study different bodies of water and how they fit into the water cycle. They explain that materials exist in different states (solid, liquid and gas) and change from one to another, that there are systems, order, and...
Curated OER
Learning Crescendo and Decrescendo
Third graders examine the sounds and notes for crescendos and decrescendos. They attend a concert by a symphony orchestra and when they return to the classroom they identify the crescendos and decrescendos in music they hear.
Curated OER
The River Sleeps Beneath The Sky
Students practice singing "The River Sleeps Beneath the Sky" by Mary Lynn Lightfoot and "Laudamus Te" by Antonio Vivaldi in an SSA choir setting in this Choral lesson for High Schoolers. Emphasis is placed on National Standards for Music...
Curated OER
Fit Kid
Students practice and perform the song "Fit Kid" while learning the basics of motion and music and dynamics in this elementary-level lesson for the General Music classroom. The lesson emphasizes proper exercise and diet for a healthy life.
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
The Lion and More
Melody, rhythm, tempo, and dynamics; get out those recorders it's time to play music! Your class will work on playing two lion-themed pieces that exemplify two different styles, folk and waltz. They'll discuss the elements of music and...
Curated OER
This Land is Your Land - Travel Posters
Eleventh graders compile a list of places in the United States where they have either traveled or where their relatives or friends live. They collect travel posters, brochures, postcards, and maps from their region of the United States.
San Francisco Symphony
Aaron Copland: Billy the Kid
Your class can think about the American Old West as they listen for dynamics, articulation, rhythm, and tempo in the Aaron Copland song, "Billy The Kid." They'll explore how Copland uses music to create an image of life for an outlaw in...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
The Golden Egg
Get ready for a musical story time! First your young musicians review musical dynamics as they listen to and discuss the pitch and sound of each instrument you play for them. Then they talk about special words (mostly verbs) in the book,...
San Francisco Symphony
Mr. Lincoln Through the Eyes of Aaron Copland
Use Aaron Copland's symphonic piece, "Lincoln Portrait" to engage learners in a cross-curricular experience. They'll listen to the piece, watch a video, read the Gettysburg Address, and write a series of fact or opinion sentences. An...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Suki's Kimono
In the story Suki's Kimono drums are used to show mood. Learners discuss mood in the story after they practice playing a simple 4/4 rhythm on their drums. Each group plays the rhythm using a different tempo. They listen to each...
Curated OER
Elementary My Dear Dancer-Foundation Lesson
Students participate in dance choreography. In this choreography lesson, students classify elements of choreography. Students collaborate in small groups and compose choreography.
Curated OER
Graham's Appalachian Spring: A Study
High schoolers explore choreographic narrative. In this choreography lesson, students explore the elements of Appalachian Spring as they develop a series of written responses to assignments that challenge them to investigate the...
National Gardening Association
Migration Mishaps
Elementary ecologists pretend to be migratory hummingbirds. They fly between wintering and nesting grounds, trying to reach a habitat haven. In a musical-chair fashion, some birds will miss out, and are removed from the game. To further...
Curated OER
VH1 Fan Club Dave Matthews Band
Students study how the music of Dave Matthews Band is based on jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock and roll, and rap.
Curated OER
VH1 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons Lesson 2
Students examine the origins of ragtime music in American and analyze its musical form.
Curated OER
Discovering Your Family
Learners research their family dynamics and create a project for the lesson plan. In this family dynamics lesson plan, students discuss the importance of family and create a family tree. Learners prepare essays on four of their...
Curated OER
Taking it to the Streets
Students explain the concept of cultural diffusion. They give examples of cultural diffusion throughout history; e.g. the development of Cuban music and dance. Students explain how cultural diffusion impacts civilizations, past and...
Curated OER
Instrumental Rehearsals for Excellence - Lesson 3
Students identify some characteristics of successful music teachers and rehearsals. They develop a list of criteria for evaluating the quality of a performance, and apply those criteria to a specific performance.
Curated OER
Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain - Kenya
Students accompany music to the story Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain - Kenya to show how sound and music can accompany story description. In this music instructional activity, students learn how to show sound during a story.
Curated OER
Found Poem - Found Song
In this Louisiana music worksheet, students learn that a found poem is made using words and phrases from some things they have read and, then write a found poem following the steps listed on the worksheet.
Curated OER
Music: Individual and Group Practice
Third graders, in groups and individually, perform various musical pieces on their instruments. After demonstrating how to play steady beats, they also play counter melodies to songs such as "Peace Like a River." While some students...